new wheels

Car shopping wouldn't be so stressful if I had any money.

The transmission on my van, a 1992 Dodge Caravan, is about to give out, and it looks like it will be in the neighborhood of $2000 to repair/replace. So I decided maybe it's time to look for something else.

I hate car shopping. I don't know anything about cars. I hate hassling and bargaining; I don't want to get into it with car salesmen (I've got a couple of friends who just love it). I can't afford anything really nice--the van is as nice as I've ever had, and I've had it maybe 10 years, so it was about 5 years old when I bought it. (Does that math add up?) It's just a terrible hassle, plus it gets emotional--I drive my vehicles for so long that I get very attached to them. And this has been a really good, reliable, comfortable, easy-handling ride. Yes, I'd buy another one in a heartbeat, and in fact, I'd borrow money and replace the transmission in this one if it wasn't starting to rust out.

I went back to the place where I bought the van--the guy who owns the place used to have a nice little boxer named Madison, and she and Stella played together when they were about a year old. He was the only guy besides my brother that Stella ever really took to. (He has an English Mastiff now--I haven't seen him, but I've seen a picture of his dog and his family--the dog's head is bigger than his youngest child!)

Anyway, I went there partly because they have a non-commission staff and partly because I got a good deal from them before and partly because they were advertising a 2001 Taurus wagon with 75K miles on their website for $6,000, which is about as much as I can afford (and which doesn't buy as much car as it did 10 years ago) and which would be big enough to carry both Ts.

I brought it home for a 24-hour test drive, but I can pretty much tell I'm not going to love it. I don't like being so low, for one thing. It's hard enough to see around trucks and SUVs in the van; it's impossible in a regular car. And my knees don't like getting out of something so low. For another, it feels a little sluggish in the pickup--the van's always been quick and nimble, light and responsive; a good drive. And it bumps something awful. Our streets aren't that great, and it could be just because the car is, well, low, but it's not quite as comfortable.

I'm going to put the seats down and put the Ts in to see what they think, and take it out for a short drive on a little rural stretch of 2-lane divided highway, to see how it does at speed. Put a CD in the CD player and mess around with the sound system. Come home and let the Ts play while I play with all the gadgets--it's got electronic everything practically, including adjustable pedals.

But I asked the sales rep if she could keep her eye peeled for a nice Dodge Caravan in my price range. With bench seats. They didn't start putting stow-and-go seats in those things until 2005, so I need a seat for each T. I was thinking a wagon might be nice for them--I could put the seats flat and they could lie down and look out the windows (and these windows roll down!). I'm not quite sure how I'd anchor their seat belt harnesses, but I'm sure I could figure out a way. With bench seats in the van, I can attach the harnesses to (duh) the seatbelts. Although anythine more than a couple of miles Taenzer does better if she rides in the travel crate. Take out the middle seat and slide it in there, although at that time I didn't worry about securing it. I would now. Timber's a good traveler; once he realizes we'll be on the road a while he just lies down and goes to sleep. Stella used to sit between the front seats; she was tall enough to see out over the dashboard, and I could put an arm around her. Not very safe, but we both valued the contact. When she got tired she'd get up on one of the bench seats and go to sleep. She was a very good traveler.

Well. Anyway. I hope the transmission on my current van will hold out until I can get another mode of transportation.